StoryWeb: Storytime for Grownups

This week on StoryWeb: Chad Everett’s TV show, Medical Center.

If only I could start with the theme song to Medical Center! If I were telling you this story in person, I’d risk humming a few bars, co…

This week on StoryWeb: Cynthia Morris’s novel, Chasing Sylvia Beach.

What do you get when you combine time travel, intriguing literary history, Paris, and romance? Why, Cynthia Morris’s novel, Chasin…

This week on StoryWeb: James H. Cone’s book Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare.

It has been more than 25 years since I read Rev. James H. Cone’s book Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dre…

This week on StoryWeb: Malcolm X and Alex Haley’s book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

Malcolm X wrote his famed autobiography in collaboration with African American journalist Alex Haley (most famo…

This week on StoryWeb: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s essay “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”

In April 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was in Birmingham, Alabama, protesting racism and racial segregat…

This week on StoryWeb: Elizabeth Strout’s book Olive Kitteridge.

Has there ever been a grimmer, more taciturn main character in a book than Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge? We’ve all known someon…

This week on StoryWeb: Emily Dickinson’s Poem 372, “After great pain, a formal feeling comes –”

For Patricia and our students

Emily Dickinson’s Poem 372 is not – technically speaking – a story. And D…

This week on StoryWeb: James Joyce’s short story “The Dead.”

James Joyce’s “The Dead” is widely considered to be his best short story, called by the New York Times “just about the finest short story …

This week on StoryWeb: Richard Thompson’s song “1952 Vincent Black Lightning.”

For Jim, in honor of his birthday

My husband, Jim, and I love this song by Richard Thompson and its signature line, “red…

This week on StoryWeb: Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”

In honor of the winter solstice

Without a doubt, the most famous poem about winter is Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Wo…

This week on StoryWeb: Rick Nelson’s song “Garden Party.”

For Julia, in honor of her birthday

In 1972, my two-year-old sister could sing all the words to this Rick Nelson hit. Why she latched on to t…

This week on Story Web: the Coen Brothers’ film Fargo.

I suppose I must have a dark sense of humor indeed to think of the Coen Brothers’ film Fargo as a comedy – even if I do realize that it is a dar…

This week on StoryWeb: Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz,”

A story contained in sixteen short lines of poetry – that is Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz.” This autobiographical poem tells o…

Lydia Maria Child: “Over the River and Through the Wood”

In the 19th century, Lydia Maria Child’s name was nearly a household word.

An outspoken abolitionist, women’s rights supporter, and crusader f…

This week on StoryWeb: Lee Smith’s memoir, Dimestore: A Writer’s Life.

I first fell in love with Lee Smith’s fiction nearly thirty years ago when I was a cook at Le Conte Lodge in the Great Smoky Mou…

This week on StoryWeb: Jill Ker Conway’s memoir The Road from Coorain.

The Road from Coorain traces the unlikely story of young Jill Ker’s journey from a sheep station in the western grasslands of Ne…

This week on StoryWeb: Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven.”

For this spooky Halloween edition of StoryWeb, I’m featuring Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.” Everyone knows this haunting poem – but less wel…

This week on StoryWeb: Frida Kahlo’s painting The Two Fridas.

Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is known for her stunning self-portraits. You might not think of her immediately as a painter who tells stori…

This week on StoryWeb: The Partridge Family’s song “I Think I Love You.”

Fifth grade – and the song I can’t get out of my head is “I Think I Love You.” Every girl at Griffith Elementary School – make…